Month: September 2017

When did you start Photography?
I bought a Sony A5000 in October 2015 but didn’t take anything more than a handful of snaps on auto until extremely basic food photography in May of 2017 which is also around the time I started taking more than a shot every two months. So I’d say 2017 but for the sake of being anal it would be the end of 2015.

When did you start lifting?
I walked into a gym for the first time on the final days of December before 2016. I started off with a handful of arm exercises like dumbbell curls and dumbbell flyes because I had no idea what to do or even how to do basic things, nor any idea how to use any of the machines. I was also extremely self conscious. I began a very loose version of Arnolds Golden Six routine 3 months later (March, 2016) and added Deadlifts another 8 or 9 months later, so somewhere around November of 2016. I started Clean and Jerk in September 2017.

When did you start cooking?
Other than burgers and heating up processed foods, it was probably around the age of 17 or 18 I cooked things that could be considered home cooked meals.

When did you start coding?
I tried HTML and making websites when I was 13 or 14, the first website I remember making was called the Red Alert Construction Yard and was specifically about the video game Command and Conquer: Red Alert. It was a hub of useful information, screenshots and some weird stuff I tried making and I remember gaming hubs didn’t really exist at that point but of course later they became huge.
I discovered PHP at age 15 (so 1999?) and played a game called Planetarion at the time. I wanted to create something similar but also teach myself web programming so I made Colony-Wars.com which was a browser based MMORPG about colonising a planet and mastering technologies and structures to create fleets of ships and attack and defend with nearby planets for resources. I created the majority of it over 2 years but added to it and refined it over time. So I taught myself PHP, MySQL, Javascript and a few other things from 1999-2001.

When did you become diabetic?
I was hospitalised after falling into a coma and diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic in June of 2001. I woke up 2 weeks later and was discharged 2 days later. I was showing symptoms for approximately 2 months prior.

When did you begin a low carb diet?
I ate very high carb (approximately 150g+ per day) from ages 20-26 but had eaten fairly healthily and probably somewhere around <100g carbs/day before then. I slowly began experimenting but didn't move back under 100g/day until 2016, a few months after I joined the gym. I tried keto for the first time in late 2016 and again briefly in 2017.

The other week I walked past some weird green things on sale in my local Lidl and did a double take, wondering why the watermelons were in the vegetables section. Lucky for me, because that hesitation reminded me of the humble (and often watermelon coloured) Marrow, a member of Cucurbitaceae family (siblings include the Squash, Pumpkin, Courgette, Gourd and even the similarly styled Watermelon and Cucumber) which I had had as a kid in unappetising things like stews, but never learned to appreciate. After taking one home and baking several slices and still having a ton leftover thanks to the Marrows often huge size, I decided to use up the remainder trying out pizza boats, which I’ve now come to love and eat regularly ever since.

Not only are they low-carb but they’re absolutely packed with fibre and high in Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Calcium, Iron, Folate and Potassium meaning it’s a powerhouse of nutrition. Add the fact that it’s very filling and satiating yet ridiculously low in calories (just 28 calories per 100g of marrow) and even has some good protein and it’s easy to see why it’s now a regular in my recipes and diet.

Here’s the recipe for low-carb, low calorie filling Marrow Pizzas.

Ingredients

3 Thick Marrow< Slices

50g Mozzarella or any combination of grated cheeses

Toppings: Mushrooms, Red Onion, Cherry Tomatoes

Pizza Base Sauce

100ml Passatta or chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic

Paprika, Basil, Salt & Pepper to taste

Serves: 3 Slices
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes

First blend all the ingredients for your tomato pizza-base sauce for 2 minutes until smooth.
Slice your Marrow for a nice thick base and lay on a baking tray. Pour a couple spoonfuls of sauce onto each and spread out smoothly using the back of the spoon in a spiral motion from the centre.
Take a small handful of grated cheese and scatter evenly over the sauce. Optionally, add another grind of black pepper to make it look and taste a little fancier.
Slice and add your toppings as needed. If you’re using meat as a topping it’ll need to be pre-cooked since 13 minutes of baking generally isn’t enough to cook anything but thin bacon.
Finish with any herbs, spices or extra seasoning you want then slide the tray in the oven at Gas Mark 6 (400F/200C) for 15 minutes or until the base and cheese turn golden brown.
Plate and serve however you like.